


In This Life or Another

by technobladelovebot



Category: Attack on Titan, aot, snk - Fandom
Genre: Ancient Greece AU, Canon verse, Little Bit of Everything, M/M, Modern AU, Reincarnation AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:55:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27627797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/technobladelovebot/pseuds/technobladelovebot
Summary: Jean promised he’d always find Eren.
Relationships: Eren Yeager/Jean Kirstein, erejean
Kudos: 60





	In This Life or Another

ON A BEACH IN 8TH CENTURY, ANCIENT GREECE THERE LAYS TWO FIGURES. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀their tunics were drenched with sweat and salt from the sea, but they were content. soft smiles rested easily on their youthful faces.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“eren,” the taller boys voice broke the silence, “do you believe in rebirth?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“rebirth?” eren propped himself up on his arm to look over his partner, “i suppose it is possible. although, i’m sure i’ll find myself settling in the fields of asphodel for eternity.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“if we find ourselves in another life after this one, i swear i will find you every time. if not, then i will meet you in asphodel.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“you swear it?” eren couldn’t help but smile, “then i swear to find you too.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“perhaps our next life will be kinder.” jean mimicked erens smile, “at least, maybe you will be kinder.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“it almost sounds like you’re growing tired of me, jean-boy.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren let out a laugh, and fell back onto the ground. the sun was finally starting to sweat, and the almost unbearable heat was fading. jean glanced over at the light hitting his partners face, and let out a soft sigh.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i would never grow tired of you.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀not in this life or another, jean thought to himself.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
IN YEAR 850, TROST THE SOUNDS OF ARGUING ECHOED THROUGH THE WOODS. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean was exhausted: physical and mentally. why had he signed up for the scouting legion? after all the infighting he had faced against yeager, and yet he still stayed. yeager was obnoxious and loud and a borderline suicidal maniac and. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀and jean couldn’t leave him. even if he ‘hated’ the boy, jean could never let eren get hurt. there was some kind of magnetism around eren. jean wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but the thought of eren getting hurt made jean feel sick to his stomach.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i’ll go alone!” eren screamed out in a fit of anger.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀krista had been kidnapped, and their gear stolen. of course everyone was upset, but this… this would get them nowhere. armin was on the verge of crying, seemed. jean gritted his teeth and pushed through their group. if eren wanted to go alone, he’d have to either convince him otherwise, or follow him.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“wait! all our horses were released!” jean grabbed eren’s shoulder and turned him around to face each other, “how are you going to find her?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“it’s none of your business!”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren shoved jean off. the anger was dripping from eren’s lips like venom from a snake. for a second there was a pull in jeans stomach telling him to huh eren. the thought quickly left when he saw the look in eren’s eyes. why did jean even think like that? he and eren were rivals, at /best/. he shouldn’t want to hug him.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“it is my business!” jean screamed back, “i’m going with you.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren let out a surprised gasp. it was expected for armin or mikasa to blindly follow eren; maybe even sasha or connie. but jean? someone eren argued and fought regularly? that was a surprise.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“im not going down in this undignified manner,” jean said quickly; he couldn’t show that his only reason for going was to help eren.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀the rest of the group followed quickly after. jean almost wished they hadn’t, he wanted to talk to eren alone. there was a look in eren’s eyes, jean new he was breaking through to eren.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
IN YEAR 850, A FIGURE LAYS IN THE DIRT. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“jean?” there was a tremble in eren’s voice as he stood over jeans body, “jean, youre okay?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀there had been an attack. several scouts had died, many more had died. jean managed to escape with what he assume was a fracture wrist, and a nasty cut on his cheek. his odm gear had locked up mid flight and the landing hadn’t been pleasant.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i told you, im fine.” jean choked out, he had lost his breathing for a second, “stop crowding me, yeager.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀despite his words, jean reached up and placed a hand on eren’s face. his temperature was high, but he knew it a side effect of being a titan. eren helped jean get up. it took jean a few minutes for his lungs to fully open back up, when he could breathe again the two stared at each other for a second, before eren scowled.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“are you stupid!” eren grabbed the front of jeans shirt, “you could’ve got hurt out there, idiot.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i was making sure you didn’t get killed, you suicidal bastard!” jean rolled his eyes, and pulled his shirt from erens tight grasp, “maybe if you didn’t put yourself in harms way so much, i wouldn’t have to get hurt for you!”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren tried to turn from jean, but jean turned him back around. placing his hands on eren’s shoulders, jean stooped down slightly so he could look eren in his eyes. eren’s eyes held a certain edge to them; the always did. there was an eternal storm waging war behind those sea green eyes.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“don’t just turn away from me, bastard,” jean murmured, “i was trying to talk to you.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren grabbed the front of jean’s shirt again, but this time he pulled their faces together. there was nothing gentle about their kisses; there never was. eren and jean were not gentle creatures: they were bitter, angry, and selfish. why would their acts of intimacy be any different.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“do you ever fucking shut up?” eren said after a breathless kiss, “you really talk too much jean-boy.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean sneered at the nickname but pulled eren in for another heated kiss.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
IN YEAR 850, TWO HANDS REACH FOR EACH OTHER IN THE DARK. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“jean? are you awake?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean rubbed his eyes and looked over at eren. instead of answering, he raised a hand to place on eren’s cheek. over the years, eren’s cheek bones had grown hollower. was it a sign of maturity, or a side effect of stress? either way, jeans tender touch seemed to calm eren. the softer moments were always few and far between; a pairing like eren and jean didn’t leave much room for niceties.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i had the strangest dream,” eren covered jean’s hand with his own for a second, before he fell against the warm bed to lay beside jean, “do you want to hear about it?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“as long as it’s not about titans, i’m all ears,” jean yawned and rubbed the sleep from his face, “so tell me about this dream, er’? was it a weird wet dream about me?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren choked at jean’s crude joke. no matter how many years they’d been friends, jeans sense of humor always go to eren.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“no… well yes, kinda… but not like that!” at erens answer, jean cocked an eyebrow up, “it was you and i, and we were laying in the sand somewhere. it was like an ocean, like armin tells us about. but we were laying there and you… never mind it’s kind of dumb.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean was beginning to think it /was/ a dumb dream. eren had listened to armins stories for too long, and eren definitely had an active imagination. but if it was important to eren, jean wanted to hear.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“well spit it out, dumbass. i gotta know now. so we were sitting on this beach? then what? did you suck my d—?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren punched jean’s side, and jean let out an exaggerated huff of pain. he supposed he deserved that, though.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“no, you pervert. you just… you promised to find me in our next life’s, or in some weird place… i don’t remember what the word was.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“hm,” jean wrapped an arm around eren, “i think one lifetime with you would be /plenty/. imagine me having to save your ass for all eternity?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren hit jean again, but this time with less force. jean smiled at eren and pressed a kiss to the top of eren’s head.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“now hush, yeager. i need my beauty sleep, and you keep interrupting me.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“no amount of beauty sleep could fix your horse face.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren laughed at his own joke before jean shoved him off the bed. jean moved over and lifted the covers for eren to begrudgingly crawl back into bed with him.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean never told eren he had dreamed the same dream.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
IN YEAR 851, A GROUP FINDS A BEACH. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀the scene was similar to the reoccurring dream of jeans. in his dreams, though, it was just jean and eren and they were wearing weird dresses.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“eren?” jean whispered as he started to walk out into the water, “if we find ourselves in another life after this one, i swear i will find you every time. if not, then i will meet you in the afterlife.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean whispered it to eren. he hoped and prayed eren would understand, he said that same line to eren in his dreams every night. they looked more peaceful in the memory; jean wondered if he and eren would ever know peace?  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“jean. . .” eren choked, “i swear to find you too.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean swallowed and nodded. he wanted to hug the boy, tackled him back onto the same sand. he wanted to lay there, and run his hands through eren’s hair. just as they had in the memory. but he didn’t— he couldn’t. that dream was not jean and eren.   
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean and eren were far too rough for comfortable intimacies. this beach was not that beach, that beach was not this beach.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
IN YEAR 2014 A PAIR BUMP INTO EACH OTHER. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“fuck!” jean cursed as he dropped his drink, “shit, i’m so sorry—”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“no it’s my fault, i’m sorry.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean looked up to meet a pair of sea green eyes. why was the eyes so familiar? jean had never met this man, surely he would remember such a handsome face.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“are you in a rush? i can buy you a new drink, if you want.” the stranger offered with a half smile, “or i can just venmo you the money—”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“are you asking me out?” jean smiled and raised an eyebrow.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“fuck you,” the other rolled his eyes, “i’m not—”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“thats a shame, because i’d say yes.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀the stranger narrowed his eyes, before he smiled and outstretched his hand.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i’m eren.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i’m jean.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
IN YEAR 2015 A PRIDE FLAG IS HELD BETWEEN TWO HANDS. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i can’t believe it happened,” jean was close to tears, “it’s finally legal.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i know,” eren dropped his side of the rainbow flag so he could step up and pull jean in for a quick kiss, “do you wanna get married? i mean, we finally can.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀the flag was quickly forgot about as jean placed his hands on eren’s face and pulled him in for another kiss. jean was sure he was crying at this point, but he couldn’t care less.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“are you going soft on me, yeager?” jean choked out with a laugh.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“you’re the one who’s crying, kirstein.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean looked down at their hands, and saw a small black box in eren’s hands.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“are you going to answer me, idiot?” eren asked with a raised eyebrow.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“the answer is yes, stupid.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
IN YEAR 2016 A NEWLY WED COUPLE LAYS IN THEIR BED. . .  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“we fucking did it.” jean looked over at his boyfriend— no his /husband/.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀they were still in their wedding suits, neither of them had the energy to change yet. it had been a long night full of drinking with friends, and now they were finally alone and they had just collapsed on their bed.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“now you’re stuck with me forever, jean-boy.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean lightly kicked eren at the nickname. when they first met, jean hated the nickname. now it was like honey falling from eren’s lips.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i’m not sure what i had to do in my past life to achieve this moment, but it was worth it.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀the sentence was random. jean wasn’t entirely sure he even believed in reincarnation, or even life after death. but it felt like the right thing to say in the moment. he and eren had always had a vague twinkling that their first meeting wasn’t their first, but never really talked about it. talking about it would make the feeling lose it’s meaning.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i feel like lifetimes ago we swore we’d be happy.” eren murmured, “is this some reparation for a pitiful past life?”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“id go through whatever shitty life i had if it all leads to this one,” jean pressed a kiss to eren’s head, “i’ll find you in the life after this one, and the one after that. let’s face it yeager, death can’t even due us apart.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀eren laughed, “you can’t call me ‘yeager’ anymore, dumbass. that’s yeager-kirstein to you, now.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“my apologies, mr yeager-kirstein.” jean pulled eren against his chest, “now let’s get out of these monkey suits and go to sleep. my mom still wants to have breakfast with us before we leave for our honeymoon.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“mhm,” eren sleepily agreed, “i’m excited to go see the beach.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  
IN YEAR 2017 THERE LAYS TWO FIGURES. . .   
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀two figures laid on the warm sand, an umbrella over them to protect against the sun. the oceans salt stuck to them, and their swimming trunks were covered in sand. jean had a hand wrapped around eren, and eren was half asleep.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i love you.” jean whispered.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“love you too, dumbass.” eren opened his eyes to looked up at jean.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“you make me happy.” jean continued, he wasn’t even looking at eren. his eyes were fixed on something on the horizon.  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“stop being so sweet,” eren laid his head back on jean’s chest, “you make me happy, though.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“let me tell you about my dream,” jean paused for a second; when eren let out a sound of agreement he continued, “first, we were on a beach. we were wearing tunics, and i said something to you. i said ‘if we find ourselves in another life after this one—”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i swear i will find you every time.” eren glanced up at jean, “i had that dream too.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean smiled a little, “it always starts here on a beach, doesn’t it.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i guess so.” eren smiles, “maybe we can rest after this life, and settle down in the after life.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“i surely do hope so.”  
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀jean pressed a lingering kiss to the top of eren’s head, and smiled. happy. he was happy.


End file.
